mr. cardin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to be able to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: mr. president, i take this time to share with my colleagues a problem that we thought was left in the 20th century, a worldwide problem: slavery. i'm talking about modern slavery: the human trafficking that takes place around the world. yesterday as chairman of the united states commission on security and cooperation in europe, the helsinki commission, i was privileged to join secretary of state clinton at the state department for the official release of the ninth annual trafficking in persons report. this is a vital diplomatic tool. it's put out every year by the united states, been doing this for almost 10 years now. and it lists every country, and the current status of trafficking in their country. some countries are origin countries. others allow trafficking through their countries. other countries are receiving countries. in this report there is

mr. cardin: mr. president, i'm glad that we are now engaged in the health care debate. this debate is long overdue. and i congratulate the obama administration for taking on the tough issues. this is none an easy subject in order to reach the type of consensus necessary to pass major legislation. there's a lot of special interests that are going to make it difficult for us to move forward. but i'm proud that this administration's taking this issue up, because we are in a health care crisis in america. i say that because the cost of health care is not sustainable. we spend twice as much as the next most expensive nation in the world per capita on health care. $2.4 trillion a year, 15% of our gross domestic product on health care. and those numbers are increasing dramatically each and every year. the cost of health care is not sustainable. we had a great deal of discussion here about fiscal responsibility and bringing our budget into balance. president obama's correct, if we don't deal with the escalating cost of health care is going to make it virtually impossible for us

mr. cardin: and with that, madam president, i would yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, very much, senator kyl? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i second senator cardin's motion and i appreciate your response. the sooner we get your views on these three issues, the sooner we'll be able to deal with them in an appropriate way. secondly, since i'm the ranking member on the same subcommittee, and i've been advised we're going to have a hearing on the detainees at guantanamo, i'd also like to ask you to get some information to us on that. i had asked in a letter that i sent back in may for some information following up on the president's speech when he talked about the fact that our super max facilities holds hundreds of convicted terrorists. i had written asking if you could break that down for us. i don't have response. let me just do this. i'm going to submit for the record a question 'cause i know you can't answer it just sitting here to find out who they are, what kind of categories of folks that they are, if there are any that are really comparable to the high value detainees that are at guantanamo today. that would be very

thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you very much, senator kyl. >> i second senator cardin's motion. er we get your response the sooner we can deal with it. secondly since i'm the ranking member on the same subcommittee and i have been advised we are going to have a hearing on the detainees at guantanamo, i'd like to also ask you to get some information to us on that. i had asked in a letter i sent back in may for some information following the president's speech when he talked about the effect our supermax facilities hold hundreds of convicted terrorists. i had written asking if you could break that down. i don't have a response. i'm going to submit for the record a question because i know you can't answer it sitting here to find out who they are, what kind of gatt gorse of folks they are. -- categories of folks they are. second, if you'd like to comment right now, fine, to get a sense of what kind of capacity we have. my understanding is that we are way overcrowded in the supermax facilities today. by the way can you just tell us do you know whether that's true or not? >> whether t

we have four cardinals on our subcommittee, so they have subcommittees they are running. it's difficult for everyone to be there. but your side has been there and it has been terrific and the questions have been great and it has been a real pleasure. and i thank mr. obey, the chairman of the full committee, for this allocation. i mean, we can only go as far as our allocation. and i think mr. obey realized that we had been hurt over the last eight years -- not to end this on a sour note -- and that -- it was a catchup budget. we're getting back to partial way there. but these are such important programs. our national parks, our national forests, our fish and wildlife service and the programs for the tribes. and i have really appreciated mr. cole and mr. obey who have been so sensitive and concerned about these tribal issues. and we have made substantial increases. but even with that, with the work that still remains to be done, there is still more that needs to be done in order to take care of the issues in our indian country. and the hearings this year, where we got into

quorum call: quorum call: mr. cardin cardin: madam presid? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: madam president, i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business for up to 20 minutes, with the time counting towards the postcloture debate time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: madam president, i intend to speak on three subjects. one dealing with the metrorail tragedy that occurred on monday night. the second that dealed with the need to pass the matthew shepherd hate crime prevention act, and, third, to talk about health care reform. and i would ask that each of these statements appear separately in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: thank you, madam president. madam president, i rise today to offer my condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives in the tragic collision of two metro trains this past monday evening. t

mr. cardin: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent that i be permitted to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: mr. president, as chairman of the u.s. helsinki commission, which has had decades of experience monitoring elections and promoting democracy and human rights, i would like to take this moment to speak on a troubling matter that has filled the headlines around the world in the last few days. we have all seen the images -- violence and mass protests are erupting across iran following the hasty vote count of a deeply flawed presidential election process in that country. yet another unfortunate chapter is unfolding before our eyes. the it reinforces iran's record as a police state and a totalitarian regime, we're concerned with keep -- more concerned with keeping its tight grip on power than yielding to the will of the people. i stand with president obama calling or the government to exercise restraint and the violence to end. regrettably,